The Girl I Hate...

CHAPTER 5

It finally the day of our date, and I had spent an hour and a half trying to find an acceptable outfit. I wore a white button-up collared shirt, a black vest, jeans, and dark green converse shoes. I tried to decide on whether I should wear the dark green tie with thick black diagonal stripes. I checked my watch and realized I was already ten minutes late. I grabbed my wallet and keys, and I rushed out. I saw her waiting for me, looking anxious, eager, and cute. I called out to her which made her smile with relief.
"Sorry. I was… late." I gasped for breath. She shrugged.
"It's alright. You didn't have to run here if you knew you were going to be late."
"No." I gasped. "I should have came earlier. I made you wait thirty minutes under this stupid hot weather. Sorry." I wiped away the sweat on my forehead. She turned a bit red, maybe because it was hot or embarrassment.
"I needed to get tanner anyway so don't worry about it." She handed me a water bottle with a small smile.
"Ah! Thank you." I pressed the cold bottle against my neck. She grabbed the tie that hung around my neck.
"Why do you have this?"
After drinking the water in large gulps, I replied, "I forgot to leave it at home. I was trying to decide which would be cool: with or without the tie."
"Hmm… with!" She started to tie it for me with some difficulty. I chuckled.
"You're like my bride." She immediately turned bright red and froze up. I gently tugged the tie out of her hands. "Only do this sort of thing to your husband, okay?" When I finished, I ruffled her hair and added, "Well, I can be your husband if you really want me."
She recovered and scoffed while saying, "Wh- who would want you?!"
"A lot of people. Do you know how amazing I am?"
"… No…"
"Tsk tsk tsk. Lying will only hurt you." I flicked her forehead.
"Ow~." She clenched her fist and tried to punch my arm. I easily caught it, undid her fist, and tenderly held her hand.
"So, what do you want to ride first?" She struggled to pull free. I scoffed. "Do you really think you can escape?"
"Maybe." She glared at me.
"Yeah right. As punishment for your thought of escaping, we're going to ride that rollercoaster." I pointed at the twisting and winding ride that I knew she would hate.
"NO WAY." She refused to move even one more step forward. I had to drag her to the line. "I am not getting on that thing! I like rides like Ferris wheels or merry-go-rounds! Sto-" I stopped for a moment.
"Really? That's so…  typical…" I stared at her with curiosity. "What're so bad about rollercoasters?"
"They're scary! And I've never ridden something this huge before!!!" I started dragging her again.
"Then let's make some memories together!" I cheerfully dragged her while she acted like I was dragging her to be slaughtered.
"No no no no no no no!"
"I'll protect you, so it's alright." She constantly struggled, but of course, I won in the end. I pushed her into the seat next to me and chuckled as she desperately clutched my hand. During the entire ride, she never let go and screamed for the longest time. While we got off, she groaned as she felt the mess her hair became. I laughed while she tried to smack me.
"This is all your fault!"
All I could manage through my laughs was "Alright! Alright!" For a while, I accepted her light blows then caught both her hands. "I'll fix your hair for you. Turn around." She hesitantly did.
"Don't make it weird!" I ran my fingers through her hair and accepted the hair tie she offered to me.
As I pulled her hair back into a bun, I confidently stated, "What do you have to worry about?" Right when I was finished, she ran to the fountain and checked her reflection. "How is it?"
"Not bad." I frowned at her and pulled her into a hug.
"If you refuse to be honest then I'll have to punish you again." To my surprise, she hugged me back.
"Oh please no!" She laughed and added, "That ride was actually fun!" I hugged her closer and rested my chin on her head.
"I told you so." When I felt her tense up, I immediately let go and asked, "So what do you want to ride next?" We awkwardly backed away from each other.
"Um…  that swing thingy?" I realized that she was just pointing at anything in sight.
"If you really want to." I slyly smiled and held her hand.
"Yeah!" When she looked back, she stared, completely stunned at her choice. "Le- let's make memories!" I brightly smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
"It'll be fun. I promise." She nervously nodded and got on.
As soon as she got off, she shouted, "That was so awesome!" She excitedly jumped and pointed at another thrilling ride.
After five or seven rides, she completely stopped running and looked at our hands. She tried to pull away in hurried embarrassment.
"Were we like this the entire time?"
"It was like this since the rollercoaster ride." She responded by turning red and trying to pull her hand away.
"Why aren't you letting go?"
"Why would I let go of my girlfriend's hand while we're having a date?" I innocently smiled at her.
She gaped at me and shouted, "Gi- girlfriend?!?! Date?!?!" I nodded and let my smile turn into a sly grin.
"Aren't you the one that insisted that this was a date and that you're my fill-in girlfriend?" She became even redder which made me chuckle.
I barely heard her mumble, "You didn't have to accept."
"Oh? You're going back on your word??" I playfully teased.
She pouted, "I am not! And you could get any other girl as your fill-in girlfriend!"
"Nope. You're the only girl that can fit in my arms so perfectly." I still held her hand and half-hugged her with my other arm. Lights suddenly turned on, and the amusement park was romantically shining. She jumped at the sudden brightness and stared at glowing bulbs. "Ah. Let's go ride the Ferris wheel." I let her go and pulled her towards the ride. She quietly followed after. When we got on, she forgot about the situation before and brightly smiled.
"It's so pretty!" I checked my watch, and right on time, the fireworks exploded over our heads.
"I'm glad we made it on time." I sighed with relief.
"You're so cliché!" She laughed while continuing to watch the fireworks.
I asked, "Then shall I be random?" I abruptly stood up, making our passenger car rock back and forth. She desperately gripped the rail and glared at me as I sat down next to her. "Now, today is going to end in three hours, and you have yet to give me a special present."
"What?! You said that this date would be the present!" I frowned and puffed my cheeks out.
"Yea but we rode all the rides you wanted, I paid for the tickets, and you've been acting like you're my friend. This was supposed to be for my birthday."
"How were we like friends?! I held your hand the entire day!"
"Siblings can do that."
She looked at me cautiously and asked, "So what do you want?" I slowly smirked.
"A kiss."
"WHAT?!" I covered my ears. The small space made her voice echo and shake the passenger car.
"Just on the cheek. Calm down. It's not like my lips are made of acid." I closed my eyes and turned my cheek towards her. "Come on." I could her groan of disapproval. I was about to open my eyes and tell I was only joking when I felt her lips lightly press against mine. I snapped my eyes open and stared at her. She was blushing uncontrollably and avoided looking at me. I was completely speechless. While I was looking for something to say, the ride was over and so was our date.
She ran away before I could utter a word, and I was frozen from shock. I felt my cheeks turn slightly red.
I mumbled, "Crap… My plan is starting to mess up…"